Page 98 of Afterglow

“Go? Go where?” His bewildered stare lands on me and he fully takes me in. I’m cradling my stomach and the stain of my broken water is making its way down my legs now. “Wait… Are you? Did your… Are you in fucking labor, blondie?”

His mouth gapes open in shock, and I can’t help but laugh even though it makes my stomach tense under my hands.

With a forced inhale around another wave of tightness, I say, “That would be a yes. My water broke… at Walmart of all places. So we aren’t going to worry about a mug, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” He blows out a heavy breath and moves toward me. His hands cradle my stomach and his forehead meets mine. I squeeze his forearms, closing my eyes and absorbing his steady presence.

That steadiness doesn’t last long before he’s ushering me toward the couch, but I hold him back. I am not sitting on my white couch right now.

“I’ll call Becca,” I say, then suck in a deep breath in response to yet another contraction. “You clean up the glass.”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “Tell her she owes you a mug. I’m blaming her for this.”

A half hour later, I’m showered, my bag is packed in the car, and I have a stomach full of grilled cheese. Rebecca told me that so long as I could talk through my contractions and still feel our butterfly girl moving, I didn’t have to rush to the hospital. But now, as we approach the ER doors and a sharp pain radiates across my stomach and into my back, I’m glad we’re almost there.

Bryce reaches across the console and places his hand over mine, giving it three squeezes. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I reply, and he jumps out of the truck to open my door and help me down. A nurse meets us at the curb with a wheelchair, which feels unnecessary—at least until another contraction hits.

Now that we’re here, Bryce looks like he might throw up from the nerves. I can’t blame him. There’s an anticipatory energy thrumming under the surface of each moment now. He’s excited and terrified, and so am I.

In the elevator, he steals a kiss. I lean into it a bit more than I probably should, considering the situation and the nurse behind me, but I don’t care. I take every ounce of his comfort and then pour as much of my own back into him, wanting him to know we’ll be okay as much as he wants me to feel that way.

“I love you,” he says against my lips.

“I love you too. Let’s go have a baby.”

Ten hours of stalled labor and six pushes later, we welcomed Lily Samantha Butler into the world. She has dark hair like her daddy and a pair of lungs on her delivering wailing screams to make the world stop and take notice of its newest inhabitant.

Even three days later, curled up on the leather couch of Bryce’s cabin, surrounded by our families, I can picture in perfect clarity the look on his face when she was born. The relief and pride and love along with so many other emotions swirling together. The way he pressed kisses to my head as I pushed her into the world. I can still feel his hand in mine as I squeezed it through each contraction.

He never once let me go.

“I think it’s my turn,” Alex states.

Delia stops swaying in front of the fireplace and relinquishes Lily into her husband’s arms. My own parents eye them with barely leashed jealousy as they wait for their next turn to hold the newest member of our family.

The cooing noises issuing from Alex are enough to make any hormonal woman tear up. He’s already wrapped around Lily’s finger, as are all those present in this room. No one more than Bryce.

He sinks into the couch beside me with a labored sigh and draws me in, then kisses my temple. We’re both exhausted and it’s only been two nights—one of which was spent in the hospital with doctors and nurses helping out. I had no idea how much I needed beauty sleep until last night when it was being interrupted every hour or so.

But Bryce was up with me every time.

His chest lifts and lowers beneath my head while we watch Alex find a natural bounce as he paces with Lily held tight against his broad chest. Delia’s gaze follows him too.

There was an understandable sadness tangled in with their excitement when they visited us in the hospital and saw Lily for the first time, but there is no doubt of how much they already love her.

They love Sarah and Sam, and they love Lily… and me too.

Having a baby has taught me that love isn’t finite. It’s not limited to right here and right now. Because even though I’ve only had Lily in my arms for three days, she’s been in my heart for months. And even though Bryce still carries Sarah and Sam in his, Lily and I aren’t competing for space, because he has more than enough love to give.

I must fall asleep, because a gentle shake of my shoulder wakes me up and I stare bleary-eyed at my mother. “I’m sorry, Annie, but I think she’s hungry.” She’s holding Lily in her arms, swaddled in a striped blanket.

I blink the sleep from my eyes and push against the leather couch to sit up.

“How long have I been asleep?” I ask, covering a yawn with my hand.

“Only an hour. Alex and Delia had to run home, so your father and I have been soaking up the cuddles while you’ve both been resting.”